Hello fellow Smogon users. I have been playing pokemon since the very beginning, and have gotton into competitive battling since the start of X and Y, with hopes on going to regionals this summer. What you see before you is my first competitive battling team, after spending the whole of the weekend tirelessly building it, this is the end result. This team plays by the standard VGC 2014 rules so keep this in mind. My current win rate is not so good, about 50% of the time I win and the rest is a combination of bad luck, sleep spammers and ill judgement. Any/ all feedback would be greatly appreciated. whether it be replacing team members, moves or scraping the whole team, I desperately need help.
The team here uses standard builds taken from popular sites. Is this what I should do, or rebuild the team to compliment a certain strategy?
Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Heat Wave
- Solar Beam
- Air Cutter
- Protect
Charizard is one of the best mega's in the current metagame. Drought gives it a lovely boost to Venusaur and can dish out serious damage. Between Heatwave (hitting two at a time), Solar beam, and protect, it can become a nasty powerhouse in a single turn. However, when struck with a supereffective rock it becomes a liability. Usually I'm pretty good at anticipating when that super-effective move is going to come, so I will use protect on the same turn. Unfortunately, it is completely creamed by tyranitar who stomps its Drought and anyone who can get a status move in.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Protect
The amount of times Rocky Helmet and Rough Skin has saved my game is stagering. It’s another part of the team that helps control physical attackers (ones that make contact). There’s not much else to really say about the Garchomp, it’s really standard, but it just fit so well with the rest of the team.
Venusaur @ Wide Lens
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder
- Protect
Venusaur is a tank, full stop. In Sunshine he out speeds even Garchomp. Though any fire types will kill this guy, he sure as heck can put many bulky pokemon down, I added wide lens to ensure sleep powder hits.
Ferrothorn (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect
Ferrothorn helps the team with a lot of different things at once. It can bugger up physical contact-making attackers with Iron Barbs, may prove useful against that pesky Smeargle with Lum Berry, can take a WoW from Rotom-W and OHKO it back with Power Whip thanks to my large investment in Attack, it could help handle Rain teams, and it had excellent synergy defensively with the rest of my team. The moveset is standard, and the Attack EVs are enough to OHKO common Rotoms. I just put the rest in Special Defense since I had so many ways to handle physical attackers
(Couldn't find gif of wash form)
Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 4 SAtk / 132 SDef / 4 Spd
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
I'm going to take what welsknight said about Rotom; "It works very well against physical attackers like Talonflame, Lucario, and Tyranitar. Volt Switch and Hydro Pump are standard STABs. EVs in HP and Def help make sure it's able to inflict the burn with Will-O-Wisp." Though I'm not using him as much as I would like to, it's still useful having him on my team.
Slowbro @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Scald
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
I am not so sure about having Slowbro on my team, he is slow and can be knowcked out by Manectric, but he is very bulky and has a huge movepool. He was used to replace a Greninja I had previously as he was in my opinion too fragile for doubles. I was told Slowbro did not fit in well with this team as he was too slow and only worked for trick room.
Thoughts
This team was not created with a set strategy in mind, it was built by looking at the most used Pokemon and creating a team based off of those results, maybe not the best way, but there is a reasons why these are the most used, they rock!
I will always lead with Charizard, with with the common partnering of Venusaur.
The main problems are these;
1. What would the best way be to use these Pokemon?
2. Should I keep this team or build a new one? Please explain how.
3. A lot of people are coming up with strategies to counter these sets/ Pokemon already.
4. General thoughts.
Thanks for viewing my team.
The team here uses standard builds taken from popular sites. Is this what I should do, or rebuild the team to compliment a certain strategy?
Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Heat Wave
- Solar Beam
- Air Cutter
- Protect
Charizard is one of the best mega's in the current metagame. Drought gives it a lovely boost to Venusaur and can dish out serious damage. Between Heatwave (hitting two at a time), Solar beam, and protect, it can become a nasty powerhouse in a single turn. However, when struck with a supereffective rock it becomes a liability. Usually I'm pretty good at anticipating when that super-effective move is going to come, so I will use protect on the same turn. Unfortunately, it is completely creamed by tyranitar who stomps its Drought and anyone who can get a status move in.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Protect
The amount of times Rocky Helmet and Rough Skin has saved my game is stagering. It’s another part of the team that helps control physical attackers (ones that make contact). There’s not much else to really say about the Garchomp, it’s really standard, but it just fit so well with the rest of the team.
Venusaur @ Wide Lens
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder
- Protect
Venusaur is a tank, full stop. In Sunshine he out speeds even Garchomp. Though any fire types will kill this guy, he sure as heck can put many bulky pokemon down, I added wide lens to ensure sleep powder hits.
Ferrothorn (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect
Ferrothorn helps the team with a lot of different things at once. It can bugger up physical contact-making attackers with Iron Barbs, may prove useful against that pesky Smeargle with Lum Berry, can take a WoW from Rotom-W and OHKO it back with Power Whip thanks to my large investment in Attack, it could help handle Rain teams, and it had excellent synergy defensively with the rest of my team. The moveset is standard, and the Attack EVs are enough to OHKO common Rotoms. I just put the rest in Special Defense since I had so many ways to handle physical attackers
(Couldn't find gif of wash form)
Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 4 SAtk / 132 SDef / 4 Spd
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
I'm going to take what welsknight said about Rotom; "It works very well against physical attackers like Talonflame, Lucario, and Tyranitar. Volt Switch and Hydro Pump are standard STABs. EVs in HP and Def help make sure it's able to inflict the burn with Will-O-Wisp." Though I'm not using him as much as I would like to, it's still useful having him on my team.
Slowbro @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Scald
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
I am not so sure about having Slowbro on my team, he is slow and can be knowcked out by Manectric, but he is very bulky and has a huge movepool. He was used to replace a Greninja I had previously as he was in my opinion too fragile for doubles. I was told Slowbro did not fit in well with this team as he was too slow and only worked for trick room.
Thoughts
This team was not created with a set strategy in mind, it was built by looking at the most used Pokemon and creating a team based off of those results, maybe not the best way, but there is a reasons why these are the most used, they rock!
I will always lead with Charizard, with with the common partnering of Venusaur.
The main problems are these;
1. What would the best way be to use these Pokemon?
2. Should I keep this team or build a new one? Please explain how.
3. A lot of people are coming up with strategies to counter these sets/ Pokemon already.
4. General thoughts.
Thanks for viewing my team.
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